Had she ever been with anyone who so innately knew what she needed?
As each piece of clothing fell, his hands found more of her. She thought she’d be embarrassed when her bra finally came off and all of her swollen, heavily pregnant body was exposed, but he only stared down at her in wonder. For a moment, his hands settled on her stomach and she saw that wonder take on new shape and dimension before he looked back up at her.
The baby had quieted after dinner and wasn’t moving, but she felt the connection. The protection he offered them both and his amazement at the new life that grew inside of her.
And then the moment shifted once again, the focus back to the two of them. Nova reveled in how he made her feel. Tentative strokes grew stronger as he asked what she liked and she responded with the truth in a mix of breathless moans and the laying of her hand over his to show him the exact spots that felt like heaven beneath his hands.
He spent long moments on her breasts. Always a sensitive part of her body, she felt herself nearly falling over the edge from just the play of his tongue and hands against her flesh. And then he shifted, touching that most intimate part of her and Nova shattered, flying into a million pieces as he coaxed her response.
On a hard cry, she let herself go, safe in the knowledge there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
* * *
Nikolas held Nova close as the last of her orgasm whipped through her. He supposed he hadn’t quite believed her when she’d said that sex was good for pregnant women, but now that he looked at her, her color high and a healthy glow suffusing her cheeks, he had to admit she knew what she spoke of.
It was humbling to realize all the body could experience. And where he’d been worried he’d have a difficult time making a distinction between the woman and the baby she carried, it has been incredibly easy—natural, even—to focus solely on her.
Even as he took caveman-level satisfaction at her climax, he knew he needed to hold himself in check. She was learning what her limits were and he was figuring out how much he could press and push and coax to bring her pleasure.
Which made the sure, steady hand reaching out to take him in her palm that much more of a surprise. “Nova. We don’t have to...”
His words faded as pleasure shot through him, lighting him up even as his body tightened in anticipation. He laid his hand over her, stilling her movements before she finished a show he wasn’t even sure they should kick off.
And then she was kissing him, the same goddess he’d watched take her pleasure shifting focus to give him the same. Whatever potential anxiety he’d had about them being together faded at the explosive desire that ripped through his body.
Had he ever felt like this before?
In that moment he could no more conjure up the image of any woman who’d come before her as he could remember a time he didn’t feel this way.
Such was Nova’s power over him.
And how startling to realize that he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Please, Nikolas.” She whispered against his ear, her voice breathy. “Let me.”
In the same way he’d trusted that she’d tell him if there was something she didn’t like or want, he trusted that she’d continue to know her own mind and could manage what she felt comfortable with.
A cool breeze blew through the windows he’d left open that morning before leaving and Nikolas relished the way that air coated his skin, slick with sweat and hot from what built between the two of them.
But it was her whisper against his mouth as they kissed that notched that heat several degrees higher. “I want you. All of you. Now.”
He nodded and extended a hand toward his end table and the condoms he had in the top drawer.
“We. Um. We don’t have to if you’re, you know, okay.” Nova’s eyes widened. “It’s not like I can get more pregnant. And I’ve been to the doctor. Once I found out about Fer—” She stopped as if unwilling to say her ex’s name in bed. “Well, let’s just say I made sure I got tested for everything. So I’m good.”
He’d always made it a personal practice to do the same, both in safe sex and in ensuring his ongoing wellness, and smiled down at her. “I’m good, too.”
“So, you know, if you want, we can skip the condom.”
“I’d like that.”
While he had no issue with her pregnancy—if anything, she was even more desirable than he could have imagined—her size did ensure they would need to maneuver a bit differently. Shifting so they lay facing each other, Nikolas pulled her close, placing her leg over his hip.
“I believe this is the position the sex manuals call ‘beached whale.’”
Despite the sensitivity of the moment and the cliff his body hovered over, Nikolas couldn’t stop the rolling laughter. “Oh, they do, do they?”
She smiled back at him, impish sparks filtering through her green gaze that was hazy with passion. “I believe so.”